Civil War 3 Flashcards
Great Britain
Davis knew he needed support from GB to win the war, with Britain’s superior navy, financial strength (possession of Canada) and they were the key European power. Davis sent commissioners in May 1861 to London to meet with foreign secretary Lord Russell.
Britain could support the confederacy due to strong trade links and 20% of British people relied on cotton for a living, many Britons were sympathetic to the confederacy and the newspaper The Times supported the confederacy.
However Britain shouldn’t get involved since conflict with the union could lead to the loss of Canada, investments in the north would be lost and the Crimean War (1854-6) put many people off fighting a war abroad.
British neutrality
An immediate problem was whether Britain would recognise the confederacy as a sovereign state. Lincoln made it clear succession was a rebellion but he declared a blockade, thus the state of war existed.
In May 1861, Britain found a compromise. It did not recognise the confederacy as a sovereign state but it did recognise them as belligerent. Under international law belligerent states could trade, gain loans and purchase arms from neutral nations
Confederate actions
Confederates knee they had an advantage with cotton (45% of cotton used in British and French mills was from the confederacy. They introduced an unofficial embargo to pressurise Britain to support them. This lacked impact as European powers stock pulled cotton and this angered Britain
The Trent Affair 1861
Confederate commissioner, James Mason and John Slidell went to Europe on a British ship, the Trent.
The US ship San Jacinto captained by Wilkes stopped them and removed the confederate from the ship. This upset the British and Lord Russell demanded their release. This was a serious problem for Lincoln as he did not want to offend the House of Representatives, so he did not apologise and he freed Mason and Slidell
Commerce raiders and laird arms
The confederacy received aid from Britain. British shipbuilders built ships and commerce raiders were purchased from Britain. These ships attacked union ships and the union lost 200 ships.
The ladies arms built by Britain sold to the confederacy. These ships would destroy the union ships by smashing into them. Britain soon agreed not to sell these to the confederacy after union threat of war
First Manassas
General Beauregard led the main confederate army of 22,000 to north Virginia, south of the Bull run river at Manassas. Johnston commanded an army of 11,000 in the Shenandoah.
30,000 union troops led by General McDowell attacked on 21 July and nearly won. The confederates fought back with Stonewall Jackson leading the brigade until Johnston’s reinforcements came. The union fled once the confederates advanced. The confederacy suffered 2,000 casualties and the union suffered 3,000. However the confederate army did not follow up the victory and they remained stationary
Actions of union congress after Manassas
In July 1861, the House of Representatives passed a resolution by Democrat John Crittenden and the senate passed one from democrat Andrew Johnson.
Resolutions promised the war was to maintain the union and not be about slavery.
General McClellan
McClellan replaced general McDowell after the union defeat at Manassas. McClellan restored union morale and renamed the army, the army of the Potomac. They had 150,000 men.
McClellan was reluctant to use his army and he over estimated the size of the confederate army. Despite his army being twice the size of the confederates he was reluctant to use it
The war in the west 1861-2
Late Jan 1862 Lincoln issued a move for all forces to attack. McClellan sent his army between Richmond and the confederate army. However Johnston drew lines at the Rappahannock and McClellan abandoned the plan.
The war in the west continued as well as in the Virginia theatre. The south won at Wilson’s creek in Missouri. In 1861 Lincoln divided the western forces. Halleck had the task of winning Mississippi, while Buell had to claim Tennessee and Kentucky.
Davis sent Albert Johnston to command between the Appalachian and Ozark Mountains. He split his 40,000 troops. 1862 union troops went on the offensive. General Thomas of Buell’s army won at Mills Springs, Kentucky and there were further victories in Missouri and in March at Elkhorn tavern in Arkansas.
Halleck sent 15,000 troops in Feb 1863 under the leadership of Grant and Andrew Foote with gunboats to capture river forts, they took fort Henry but at first failed at Fort Donelson.
However Grant surrounded Donelson and its 16,000 troops surrendered and the union controlled Tennessee and the Cumberland rivers.
The Chicago tribune called victory at fort Henry ‘the most complete and signal victories’. At fort Donelson close to 1/3 of Johnston’s forces were captured. Union losses were 2,691 compared to 13,846 confederate losses
Peninsula campaign
April 1862 the army of the Potomac were 121,000 strong and were sent to Fort Monroe, 70 miles from Florida. The only army ready to fight them were 11,000 men at Yorktown lead by Magruder. McClellan held a month long siege of Yorktown and inadvertently allowed the confederates to send reinforcements. Confederates then withdrew allowing McClellan to move north. After reaching south of Richmond in May, McClellan waited again overestimating the size of the rebels.
McClellan waited for reinforcements. Stonewall Jackson’s campaign in the Shenandoah valley districted them. Jackson’s 18,000 men stopped the union troops, seized supplies, fought 6 battles, marched hundreds of miles, inflicted 7,000 casualties and diverted 60,000 union troops. Lincoln sent troops to the Shenandoah valley with McDowell and 40,000 men
Seven days battles
After Johnston’s men lost to the army of the Potomac at the battle of fair oaks, Lee replaced an injured Johnston. The confederacy lost 6,000 men to the unions 5,000. Lee renamed the army the army of north Virginia.
Lee attacked on the final week of June 1862. At Mechanicsville, Jackson’s troops did not arrive and on the 27th June 1862 at Gaines Mill, Lee was let down again. Fighting continued at Frayser’s farms by June 30th and at Mavern Hill on 1st July. Lee lost 5,000 men to the unions 3,000. Seven days was a disaster for the confederacy, they lost 20,614 to the unions 15,849 men. Despite this it was a confederate victory and McClellan retreated from Richmond
Second Manassas
July and August 1862, McClellan remained close to Richmond. Lincoln was busy consolidating union forces around Washington. General Pope was appointed commander. August 28-30th, McClellan was ordered to abandon the peninsula and join Pope and advance on Richmond. Lee reorganised his army under Jackson and Longstreet, with 55,000 strong. At first, Jackson’s 25,000 held Pope before McClellan could get there.
Second Manassas occurred August 29-30th. This was a union disaster. Jackson supported by Longstreet and them defeated Pope when his left flank was attacked. Lee was close to victory however Pope managed to evacuate enough men and pull back to Washington. His poor general ship lost 16,000 men compared to the confederates 9,000. Lincoln was annoyed with Pope and he reluctantly reappointed McClellan as commander-in-chief.
The battle of Antietam September 1862
Lee sent Jackson with 40,000 to take Harper’s Ferry to capture the rich stores. Lee’s aims in Maryland included: to fight in northern soil, to resupply his men, protect Virginia’s harvest, protect Richmond, threaten Washington, demoralise the north and gain support from Great Britain.
The invasion of Maryland did not go to plan for Lee. Although he gained some support in Maryland, more soldiers deserted. He also lost a copy of his plans, which McClellan found. This meant McClellan knew Lee’s plans. McClellan forced Lee back across the Potomac and Lee retreated instead to a position east of Sharpsburg behind Antietam Creek.
Had McClellan attacked Lee on the 15th or 16th of September, Lee would have been defeated. On the 16th September Jackson and reinforcements arrived to help Lee. Despite this McClellan outnumbered the confederacy 2 to 1. The battle lasted 3 days and three union attacks occurred, however none of these successfully followed through and Lee held on. This was the single bloodiest day in history with 10,000 confederacy casualties, 14,000 union casualties and 6,500 deaths.
Emancipation
Lincoln was determined to ensure northern unity. He knew that a policy of emancipation would alienate northern democrats and more crucially the Border States. These states had 400,000 slaves in total. Emancipation would add fuel to the southerners cause and leave a compromise even more unlikely.
Contraband
The Fugitive Slave Act 1850 meant any slaves that came to the union armies should be returned. Some armies believed that slaves could help the war effort, so they refused to return the slaves. In May 1861 General Butler declared slaves who came to his camp were contraband of war – slaves were now confiscated and could not be returned to their owners. Butler’s actions were supported by the Conscription Act 1861.
Union General Fremont issued an order declaring martial law in Missouri and freeing all slaves held by Missouri secessionists. Lincoln ordered him to stick to the 1861 Conscription Act. When Fremont did not revoke the order, Freemont was removed from command and Lincoln revoked the order. A second unauthorised emancipation proclamation was issued in May 1862 by General David Hunter. This declared that slaves should be freed in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida and it authorised the arming of able-bodied blacks. Lincoln issued a public statement revoking the order but he urged the slave holding Border States to adopt a gradual abolishment of slavery.
Emancipation opinions
Radicals – Charles Sumner said fighting slaveholders without fighting was a half hearted business. Also agreed restoring the union without ending slavery would mean nothing was achieved, emancipation as a war aim would mean Britain would not support the confederacy and by December 1861 most republicans did not support re-issuing the Crittenden resolution.
Lincoln – shared the view that slavery was a moral evil, he feared emancipation as a war aim would worsen the conflict and he said ‘we didn’t go to war to put down slavery, but to put the flag back’ in December 1861.
June 1862 William Lloyd Garrison described Lincolns handling of the slave issue as irresolute and weak. Aware of congressional opinion in 1862 Lincoln decided to move towards emancipation. In March a congressional request that compensation be given to states that introduced gradual emancipation was accepted - $400 for every freed slave.
August 1862 the editor of New York Tribune, Horace Greeley criticised Lincoln for failing to free slaves who escaped to the union army.
Congress in 1862
In April slavery in Washington DC was abolished and in June slavery was abolished in all federal territories. In July a stronger confiscation act allowed the confiscation of slaves, power to employ slaves for suppressing rebellion and $500,000 for colonisation. This had significant opposition.
Emancipation proclamation
Proclamation was issued September 1862 after the Battle of Antietam. This allowed for slavery to be untouched in the states that returned to the union before January 1863 and that slaves in enemy territory conquered by the union armies would be forever free.
Reaction to emancipation proclamation
• Greely – ‘god bless Abraham Lincoln’.
• UK Spectator – ‘not a human being can justly own another, but that he cannot own him unless he is loyal to the USA’.
Most northern democrats opposed this and denounced the proclamation; they claimed Lincoln was acting unconstitutionally by changing the objectives of war. Lincoln argued it was an act of justice and a military necessity. He urged all slaves to abstain from violence and he ordered union troops to protect the rights of those who had been freed.
Davis condemned the proclamation as the most execrable measure recorded in the history of a guilty man. Davis could no longer look for a compromise settlement with the union. In the long term this weakened the confederacy as Britain would no longer help the confederacy.
Should blacks fight for the union
Lincoln faced pressure on whether blacks should fight for the union. Radicals argued for it. After the spring of 1863 Lincoln allowed for the enlisting of black soldiers who joined in large numbers. Of the 46,000 blacks of military age in the union, 33,000 joined the union forces. By the end of the war 180,000 blacks had served for the union, making up 10% of union forces in 1865. The 54th Massachusetts regiment was the first all black regiment. Also 100,000 blacks were recruited for the rebels; however they were forced to join.
Conclusions by 1863
Defeats at Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Chattanooga reduced confederate morale. Large areas of Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia and Louisiana were under union control.
Fredericksburg
With McClellan’s failures to press home victory on the retreating confederacy, he was replaced by General Burnside. With 100,000 men, Burnside marched south into the confederacy. He argued to Lincoln that once Fredericksburg was taken, Richmond would fall. Lee’s 75,000 army took position behind Fredericksburg at Mayre’s heights. On 13th December, Burnside launched a series of attacks. The union lost 11,000 men and the confederacy lost 5,300. Burnside retreated down the Rappahannock.
Chancellorsville
Lincoln replaced General Burnside with General Hooker. This was a risk for Lincoln as he was hot tempered and wanted a military dictator. Hooker increased the army of the Potomac to 130,000 men, which was twice the size of Lee’s army of northern Virginia. General Sedgewick (union) challenged Lee at Fredericksburg whilst Hooker crossed the Rappahannock. By 30 April, they reached Chancellorsville in an area known as the Wilderness. This was at bad move as the conditions made it more difficult for Hooker’s army to fight.
Lee now had the opportunity to surprise the northern armies. Against his staff’s advice, he left General Early with 10,000 to deal with Sedgewick and Lee took 50,000 to face Hooker. On the 2nd of May 1863 Lee further divided his army and he sent Jackson with 28,000 to attack Hooker’s right flank. Hooker thought Jackson was retreating and he focused on Lee. Jackson then attacked at dusk and the union flank barely held, the union army retreated. However Jackson was shot in the army and he contracted pneumonia and died.
The results were that Hooker failed to take advantage of Lee’s divided army. Lee was able to send the army back to defend Fredericksburg and Early from Sedgewick. Lee lost 22% of his army in comparison to 15% of the unions. This was a spectacular victory for the confederacy, the union lost 17,000 and the confederacy lost 13,000. Not only did Lee hold Hooker back but he also forced him to retreat despite being heavily outnumbered and out resourced.
Pennsylvania
Following his success at Chancellorsville, Lee reorganised and replenished the army of northern Virginia. Some wanted the army to go to Vicksburg and some wanted them to support Bragg in Kentucky and Tennessee. Lee refused these and argued a decisive victory on northern soil was needed to force the north to accept southern independence. He believed an invasion of Pennsylvania (industrial state) would relieve pressure on the west and a capture of a northern town would damage northern morale.
5th June – Stuart requested a field review of his troops by General Lee including 9,000 troopers and four batteries of horse artillery. Lee was not able to attend the review; however it was repeated on the 8th June with Lee attending. Lee ordered Stuart to cross the Rappahannock the next day and screen the confederate army from observation and interference as it moved north. He needed to report his observations back to General Lee. Stuart ordered his tired troops to go to Brandy station.
The army of the Potomac commanded by General Hooker interpreted Stuart’s presence around Culpeper and he ordered his cavalry commander General Pleasonton to take 8,000 cavalryman and 3,000 infantry to destroy the 9,500 confederates. On the 9th June 1863 Pleasonton crossed the Rappahannock and caught Stuart’s troops by surprise. The second crossing at Kelly’s Ford, surprised Stuart again and a series of charges and counter charges swept across Fleetwood Hill. After ten hours of fighting, Pleasonton ordered his men to withdraw. Stuart claimed victory but it was a tactical draw. However Stuart failed to report his findings back to General Lee.
Gettysburg
10th June Lee moved northwards, Lincoln saw the destruction of Lee’s army as a priority, the army of the Potomac tried to follow Lee but it was too hard. On the 28th June 1863 Lincoln replaced General Hooker with Meade from Pennsylvania. Lee was still lost as Stuart had not told him about the union forces. 30th June the confederate soldiers settled in Gettysburg and when they were looking for shoes they stumbled across the union forces.
The first battle took place on the 1st July 1863 and was a good day for the confederacy. The union troops pushed to Cemetery hill and Culp’s hill. But again there was no confederate push. However, Meade and his 85,000 men had taken up the hills south and east of the town. Longstreet wanted to go around the army of the Potomac and find a position between them and Washington; however Lee was weary of this. On the 2nd July fighting didn’t start until mid afternoon. Longstreet attacked the union left. The confederates did well at Peach Orchard and they came close to defeating the union at Little Round Top. They failed at Little Round Top due to a union sweep down the hill, led by Joshua Chamberlin of the 20th Maine. The second day at Gettysburg ended in a stalemate.
Lee set his forces on the 3rd day on the centre of the union forces. Pickett led a charge with 13,000 men up cemetery ridge and it was a disaster, the confederacy lost 6,500 men in an hour. Lee was defeated, he lost 28,000 men under his command and the union lost 23,000 and retreated back to Virginia. Lee accepted the blame for the defeat and resigned, however Davis did not accept his resignation.
Gettysburg was a major defeat for the confederates and 714/800 died from the 26th North Carolina. It showed that Lee could be defeated; he lost his aura of invincibility. Lee also never again launched an invasion in the north and his tactics permanently changed as he never went on the offensive again. Meade also didn’t follow up the union victory, while Lee held North Virginia.
Gettysburg address
Lincoln paid respects to the fallen at the Battle of Gettysburg four months later. He thanked the people who scarified their lives and he said this would develop the future of the American government – ‘government of the people, by the people, for the people’. This was one of Lincoln’s four major speeches.
Vicksburg
Since August 1862 the confederacy had been trying to hold the river town of Vicksburg as this prevented the union controlling the Mississippi. Davis called it the nail head that held the south’s two halves and Lincoln said war cannot be brought to a close without that key in our pocket.
Davis appointed Johnson to control the Mississippi. He was useless and failed to have a clear strategy to defend Vicksburg. In April 1863 Grant decided to gamble on Vicksburg. He marched down the west of the Mississippi, relying on Admiral Porter’s ironclad fleet sailing past Vicksburg. He relied on them because Vicksburg’s defences made it hard to seize by land. The first attempt failed as Sherman’s flank was defeated at Chickasaw Bluffs. Grant attacked 16-17 April 1863 he was aware of Johnson’s 25,000 men and Pemberton’s 30,000 men. He attacked them one by one. This showed Grant’s skills as a leader. In 3 weeks his army marched 200 miles and won several key battles. He defeated Johnson and then Pemberton. He then laid siege to Vicksburg, shelling them and cutting their food supplies. On the 4th July 30,000 confederates finally surrendered. They captured huge quantities of weapons including 172 canons and 60,000 rifles.
Tennessee and Chattanooga
At the end of 1862 the union army of the Cumberland, commanded by Rosecrans tried to drive out the confederate army of Tennessee led by Bragg. 31st December 1862 Rosecrans and Bragg fought at Murfreesboro near Nashville. Lincoln demanded more action from Rosecrans and he threatened him the sack. Rosecrans pushed Bragg 80 miles to Chattanooga (a rail centre). Bragg withdrew to Chickamauga Creek and was reinforced with 12,000 from Lee. 19 – 20th September 1863 Bragg gave battle in Chickamauga. The union army retreated to Chattanooga and the union suffered 16,500 casualties whilst the rebels lost 18,500. Bragg was incensed that many of his subordinates didn’t follow up victory; also Davis made the decision to force some of his men under Longstreet to attack Knoxville.
Grant then supplied the union troops at Chattanooga after Lincoln gave him command of the union forces between the Appalachians and the Mississippi. He then storms the rebel position on Lookout Mountain on 24th November. The next day his men seize Missionary Ridge. Rebel forces retreat to Georgia and Grant is confirmed at the unions greatest general. Bragg returns to Richmond.
Conclusions by 1863
Defeats at Gettysburg, Vicksburg and Chattanooga severed confederate morale. The situation in the west for the confederacy was dire and large areas of Tennessee, Arkansas, Virginia and Louisiana was under union control.
Grants plans
In March 1864, Lincoln reshuffled his army command structure in preparation for his new campaign. He appointed Grant as general-in-chief at the entire union forces. General Sherman controlled the army of the west and General Meade was in charge of the army of the Potomac. Most veterans in the army of the Potomac were sceptical as they believed Grant had it easy in the west, as he hadn’t faced Lee.
Grant proposed a strategy of simultaneous movement all along the line. 115,000 men in the army of the Potomac would attack Lee and Grant told Meade to follow Lee. He also ordered Sherman to attack Atlanta and Georgia. Banks and his 30,000 men in Louisiana would take Mobile and then move northwards. Butler and his 30,000 in Yorktown would attack Richmond up the York-James Rivers. Sigel and his 26,000 were to march up the Shenandoah Valley.
Confederate issues by 1864
Manpower in the confederacy by 1864 was low and all men between 17 and 50 had to enlist. However Johnston was in charge of the army of Tennessee and despite the confederacy being outnumbered many of their remaining soldiers were veterans. Most veterans in the union were finishing their 3 year service. Lincoln tried to persuade them to enlist again, 136,000 did and 100,000 didn’t.
Grants plans unfold
Banks got bogged down in the red river and never reached Mobile and Butler and Sigel all failed. A 10,000 strong confederate army pushed the union back through the Shenandoah Valley and even reached the suburbs of Washington. Grant had to send reinforcements back to Washington to defend it.
Wilderness campaign May 1864
Grant and Lee first meet at the Wilderness on 5th May. On the 6th May the army of the Potomac had Burnside’s men both attack, with Lee counter-attacking. The next day both sides entrenched themselves. The confederates had a tactical victory and inflicted 17,500 casualties. There was none stop fighting for one month. The next battle at Spotsylvania ended with another tactical defeat for the union. The battle resulted in 30,000 casualties (18,000 unions and 12,000 confederates). 3rd June at Cold Harbour, Grant lost 7,000 men in an hour and Lee lost 1,500. However the army of Northern Virginia was running out of men. 12th June the union forces crossed the James River which threatened Richmond and allowed Petersburg to be challenged by the union. Beauregard held of the union troops however and both sides dug trenches, the union suffered 4,500 casualties. Grant had lost 60,000 men but he knew the union would win a war of attrition.
The democrat convention 1864
By 1864 it was clear the confederate’s only hope would be if Lincoln lost the 1864 election. In August 1864 the Democrats met at their convention in Chicago. Their platform was written by Clement Vallandigham and it stated peace with the confederacy, condemning Lincoln’s arbitrary measures and a pledge to protect state rights. Their nominee was McClellan. However he would not agree with peace with the confederacy, which was on the democrat platform. This split the democrats into war and peace factions. Moderate peace Democrats included Horatio Seymour and Thomas Seymour.
The republican convention 1864
It was not certain that Lincoln would win the republican convention. It would be the first time a president has been re-elected since Jackson in 1932. To gain more support they went under the name of the Unionist Party. Some republicans wanted to nominate Grant but Grant supported Lincoln. Chase also wanted the nomination but he had no real support. A contest became serious as who would be Lincoln’s vice president in the campaign. Andrew Johnson of Tennessee won the nomination and he was a southerner and a war democrat. The republican platform stated unconditional surrender to the confederacy and the end of slavery using a constitutional amendment (13th amendment).
The radical democracy party
This was a more anti abolitionist, pro unionist and radical reconstruction party led by Fremont and they believed Lincoln was being too lenient to the south. It seemed the party would split the republican vote, allowing the democrats to win. The party did not mount a challenge and no newspaper aligned themselves to them.
1864 election results
Lincoln won 2,213,645 votes (55%) and 212 Electoral College votes whereas McClellan won 1,802,237 votes (45%) and only 21 Electoral College votes. The republicans also increased their majority in both houses of congress.
78% of the soldier vote went to Lincoln as most states found ways for soldiers to vote and even in states where this measure was blocked, soldiers found a way to vote.
During Lincoln’s second inaugural speech in March 1865 Lincoln said ‘with malice toward none, with charity for all’.
